The Berlin operation is over. The Battle of Berlin: the end of the Great Patriotic War

In November 1944, the General Staff began planning military operations on the approaches to Berlin. It was necessary to defeat German group Army "A" and complete the liberation of Poland.

At the end of December 1944, German troops launched an offensive in the Ardennes and pushed back the Allied forces, putting them on the brink of complete defeat. The leadership of the USA and Great Britain turned to the USSR with a request to conduct offensive operations to divert enemy forces.

Fulfilling our allied duty, our units went on the offensive eight days ahead of schedule and pulled back part of the German divisions. The offensive launched ahead of time did not allow for full preparation, which led to unjustified losses.

As a result of the rapidly developing offensive, already in February, units of the Red Army crossed the Oder - the last major obstacle in front of the German capital - and approached Berlin to a distance of 70 km.

The fighting on the bridgeheads captured after crossing the Oder was unusually fierce. Soviet troops waged a continuous offensive and pressed back the enemy all the way from the Vistula to the Oder.

At the same time, the operation began in East Prussia. Its main goal was to capture the Konigsberg fortress. Perfectly protected and provided with everything necessary, with a selected garrison, the fortress seemed impregnable.

Before the assault, heavy artillery preparation was carried out. After the capture of the fortress, its commandant admitted that he did not expect such a rapid fall of Koenigsberg.

In April 1945, the Red Army began immediate preparations for the assault on Berlin. The USSR leadership believed that delaying the end of the war could lead to the Germans opening a front in the west and concluding a separate peace. The danger of Berlin's surrender to Anglo-American units was considered.

The Soviet attack on Berlin was carefully prepared. It was transferred to the city great amount ammunition and military equipment. Troops from three fronts took part in the Berlin operation. The command was entrusted to Marshals G.K. Zhukov, K.K. Rokossovsky and I.S. Konev. 3.5 million people took part in the battle on both sides.

The assault began on April 16, 1945. At 3 a.m. Berlin time, under the light of 140 searchlights, tanks and infantry attacked German positions. After four days of fighting, the fronts commanded by Zhukov and Konev, with the support of two armies of the Polish Army, closed a ring around Berlin. 93 enemy divisions were defeated, about 490 thousand people and a huge amount of captured military equipment and weapons were captured. On this day, a meeting of Soviet and American troops took place on the Elbe.

Hitler's command declared: “Berlin will remain German.” And everything possible was done for this. refused to capitulate and threw old people and children into street battles. He hoped for discord between the allies. The prolongation of the war led to numerous casualties.

On April 21, the first assault troops reached the outskirts of the German capital and started street battles. German soldiers put up fierce resistance, surrendering only in hopeless situations.

On May 1 at 3 o'clock, the Chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces, General Krebs, was delivered to the command post of the 8th Guards Army. He stated that Hitler had committed suicide on April 30 and proposed that armistice negotiations begin.

The next day, the Berlin Defense Headquarters ordered an end to resistance. Berlin has fallen. When it was captured, Soviet troops lost 300 thousand killed and wounded.

On the night of May 9, 1945, the act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed. in Europe ended, and with it.

Map

Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation (Battle of Berlin):

Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation

Dates (start and end of operation)

The operation continued 23 day - from April 16 By May 8, 1945, during which Soviet troops advanced westward to a distance of 100 to 220 km. The width of the combat front is 300 km.

Goals of the parties to the Berlin operation

Germany

The Nazi leadership tried to prolong the war in order to achieve a separate peace with England and the United States and split the anti-Hitler coalition. At the same time, holding the front against Soviet Union.

USSR

The military-political situation that had developed by April 1945 required the Soviet command to prepare and carry out an operation in the shortest possible time to defeat a group of German troops in the Berlin direction, capture Berlin and reach the Elbe River to join the Allied forces. The successful completion of this strategic task made it possible to thwart the plans of the Nazi leadership to prolong the war.

To carry out the operation, the forces of three fronts were involved: the 1st Belorussian, 2nd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian, as well as the 18th Air Army of Long-Range Aviation, the Dnieper Military Flotilla and part of the forces of the Baltic Fleet.

• Capture the capital of Germany, Berlin
• After 12-15 days of the operation, reach the Elbe River

• Deliver a cutting blow south of Berlin, isolate the main forces of Army Group Center from the Berlin group and thereby ensure the main attack of the 1st Belorussian Front from the south
• Defeat the enemy group south of Berlin and operational reserves in the Cottbus area
• In 10-12 days, no later, reach the Belitz - Wittenberg line and further along the Elbe River to Dresden

• Deliver a cutting blow north of Berlin, protecting the right flank of the 1st Belorussian Front from possible enemy counterattacks from the north
• Press to the sea and destroy German troops north of Berlin

• Two brigades of river ships will assist the troops of the 5th Shock and 8th Guards Armies in crossing the Oder and breaking through enemy defenses on the Küstrin bridgehead
• The third brigade will assist the troops of the 33rd Army in the Furstenberg area
• Ensure mine defense of water transport routes.

• Support the coastal flank of the 2nd Belorussian Front, continuing the blockade of Army Group Courland pressed to the sea in Latvia (Courland Pocket)

Relationships of forces before surgery

Soviet troops:

• 1.9 million people
• 6250 tanks
• more than 7500 aircraft
• Allies - Polish troops: 155,900 people

German troops:

• 1 million people
• 1500 tanks
• more than 3300 aircraft

Photo gallery

Preparation for the Berlin operation



Commanders-in-Chief of the Allied Forces of the Anti-Hitler Coalition Countries



Soviet attack aircraft in the sky over Berlin



Soviet artillery on the approaches to Berlin, April 1945



A salvo of Soviet Katyusha rocket launchers hits Berlin



Soviet soldier in Berlin



Fighting on the streets of Berlin



Hoisting the Victory Banner on the Reichstag building



Soviet artillerymen write on shells “To Hitler”, “To Berlin”, “Across the Reichstag”



Gun crew of Guard Senior Sergeant Zhirnov M.A. fights on one of the streets of Berlin



Infantrymen fight for Berlin



Heavy artillery in one of the street battles



Street fight in Berlin



The crew of the tank of the Hero of the Soviet Union Colonel N.P. Konstantinov. knocks the Nazis out of a house on Leipzigerstrasse



Infantrymen fight for Berlin 1945.



A battery of the 136th Army Cannon Artillery Brigade prepares to fire on Berlin in 1945.

Commanders of fronts, armies and other units

1st Belorussian Front: Commander Marshal - G.K. Zhukov M.S. Malinin

Front composition:

• 1st Army of the Polish Army - Commander Lieutenant General Poplavsky S.G.

Zhukov G.K.

• 1st Guards Tank Army - Commander Colonel General of Tank Forces Katukov M.E.
• 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps - Commander Lieutenant General V.V. Kryukov
• 2nd Guards Tank Army - Commander Colonel General of Tank Forces Bogdanov S.I.
• 3rd Army - Commander Colonel General Gorbatov A.V.
• 3rd Shock Army - Commander Colonel General Kuznetsov V.I.
• 5th Shock Army - Commander Colonel General Berzarin N.E.
• 7th Guards Cavalry Corps - Commander Lieutenant General Konstantinov M.P.
• 8th Guards Army - Commander Colonel General Chuikov V.I.
• 9th Tank Corps - Commander, Lieutenant General of Tank Forces Kirichenko I.F.
• 11th Tank Corps - Commander: Major General of Tank Forces Yushchuk I. I.
• 16th Air Army - Commander Colonel General of Aviation S.I.
• 33rd Army - Commander Colonel General V.D. Tsvetaev
• 47th Army - Commander Lieutenant General F.I. Perkhorovich
• 61st Army - Commander Colonel General Belov P.A.
• 69th Army - Commander Colonel General V. Ya. Kolpakchi.

1st Ukrainian Front: Commander Marshal - I. S. Konev, Chief of Staff Army General I. E. Petrov

Konev I.S.

Front composition:

• 1st Guards Cavalry Corps - Commander Lieutenant General V.K. Baranov
• 2nd Army of the Polish Army - Commander: Lieutenant General Sverchevsky K.K.
• 2nd Air Army - Commander Colonel General of Aviation Krasovsky S.A.
• 3rd Guards Army - Commander Colonel General Gordov V.N.
• 3rd Guards Tank Army - Commander Colonel General Rybalko P.S.
• 4th Guards Tank Corps - Commander, Lieutenant General of Tank Forces, P. P. Poluboyarov.
• 4th Guards Tank Army - Commander Colonel General D. D. Lelyushenko
• 5th Guards Army - Commander Colonel General Zhadov A.S.
• 7th Guards Motorized Rifle Corps - Commander: Lieutenant General of Tank Forces Korchagin I.P.
• 13th Army - Commander Colonel General N.P. Pukhov.
• 25th Tank Corps - Commander, Major General of Tank Forces E. I. Fominykh.
• 28th Army - Commander Lieutenant General A. A. Luchinsky
• 52nd Army - Commander Colonel General K. A. Koroteev.

2nd Belorussian Front: commander Marshal - K.K. Rokossovsky, chief of staff Colonel General A.N. Bogolyubov

Rokossovsky K.K.

Front composition:

• 1st Guards Tank Corps - Commander, Lieutenant General of Tank Forces M. F. Panov.
• 2nd Shock Army - Commander Colonel General I.I. Fedyuninsky
• 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps - Commander Lieutenant General Oslikovsky N.S.
• 3rd Guards Tank Corps - Commander, Lieutenant General of Tank Forces Panfilov A.P.
• 4th Air Army - Commander, Colonel General of Aviation Vershinin K.A.
• 8th Guards Tank Corps - Commander, Lieutenant General of Tank Forces Popov A.F.
• 8th Mechanized Corps - Commander, Major General of Tank Forces Firsovich A.N.
• 49th Army - Commander Colonel General Grishin I.T.
• 65th Army - Commander Colonel General Batov P.I.
• 70th Army - Commander Colonel General Popov V.S.

18th Air Army- Commander Chief Marshal of Aviation Golovanov A. E.

Dnieper military flotilla- Commander Rear Admiral V.V. Grigoriev

Red Banner Baltic Fleet- Commander Admiral Tributs V.F.

Progress of hostilities

At 5 a.m. Moscow time (2 hours before dawn) on April 16, artillery preparation began in the zone of the 1st Belorussian Front. 9,000 guns and mortars, as well as more than 1,500 BM-13 and BM-31 RS installations, crushed the first line of German defense in the 27-kilometer breakthrough area for 25 minutes. With the start of the attack, artillery fire was transferred deep into the defense, and 143 anti-aircraft searchlights were turned on in the breakthrough areas. Their dazzling light stunned the enemy and at the same time illuminated

Soviet artillery on the approaches to Berlin

way for the advancing units. For the first one and a half to two hours, the offensive of the Soviet troops developed successfully, and individual formations reached the second line of defense. However, soon the Nazis, relying on a strong and well-prepared second line of defense, began to offer fierce resistance. Intense fighting broke out along the entire front. Although in some sectors of the front the troops managed to capture individual strongholds, they failed to achieve decisive success. The powerful resistance unit equipped on the Zelovsky Heights turned out to be insurmountable for rifle formations. This jeopardized the success of the entire operation. In such a situation, the front commander, Marshal Zhukov, decided to bring the 1st and 2nd Guards Tank Armies into battle. This was not provided for in the offensive plan, however, the stubborn resistance of the German troops required strengthening the penetrating ability of the attackers by introducing tank armies into battle. The course of the battle on the first day showed that the German command attached decisive importance to holding the Seelow Heights. To strengthen the defense in this sector, by the end of April 16, the operational reserves of Army Group Vistula were deployed. All day and all night on April 17, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front fought fierce battles with the enemy. By the morning of April 18, tank and rifle formations, with the support of aviation from the 16th and 18th Air Armies, took the Zelovsky Heights. Overcoming the stubborn defense of German troops and repelling fierce counterattacks, by the end of April 19, front troops broke through the third defensive line and were able to develop an offensive on Berlin.

The real threat of encirclement forced the commander of the 9th German Army, T. Busse, to come up with a proposal to withdraw the army to the suburbs of Berlin and establish a strong defense there. This plan was supported by the commander of the Vistula Army Group, Colonel General Heinrici, but Hitler rejected this proposal and ordered the occupied lines to be held at all costs.

April 20 was marked by an artillery attack on Berlin, carried out by long-range artillery of the 79th Rifle Corps of the 3rd Shock Army. It was a kind of birthday gift for Hitler. On April 21, units of the 3rd Shock, 2nd Guards Tank, 47th and 5th Shock Armies, having overcome the third line of defense, broke into the outskirts of Berlin and started fighting there. The first to break into Berlin from the east were the troops that were part of the 26th Guards Corps of General P. A. Firsov and the 32nd Corps of General D. S. Zherebin of the 5th Shock Army. On the evening of April 21, the advanced units of the 3rd Guards Tank Army of P. S. Rybalko approached the city from the south. On April 23 and 24, fighting in all directions became especially fierce. On April 23, the greatest success in the assault on Berlin was achieved by the 9th Rifle Corps under the command of Major General I.P. Rosly. The warriors of this corps took possession of Karlshorst and part of Kopenick with a decisive assault and, reaching the Spree, crossed it on the move. The ships of the Dnieper military flotilla provided great assistance in crossing the Spree, transferring rifle units to the opposite bank under enemy fire. Although the pace of Soviet advance had slowed by April 24, the Nazis were unable to stop them. On April 24, the 5th Shock Army, fighting fiercely, continued to successfully advance towards the center of Berlin.

Operating in the auxiliary direction, the 61st Army and the 1st Army of the Polish Army, having launched an offensive on April 17, overcame the German defenses with stubborn battles, bypassed Berlin from the north and moved towards the Elbe.

The offensive of the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front developed more successfully. On April 16, early in the morning, a smoke screen was placed along the entire 390-kilometer front, blinding the enemy's forward observation posts. At 6:55 a.m., after a 40-minute artillery strike on the front edge of the German defense, reinforced battalions of the first echelon divisions began crossing the Neisse. Having quickly captured bridgeheads on the left bank of the river, they provided conditions for building bridges and crossing the main forces. During the first hours of the operation, 133 crossings were equipped by front engineering troops in the main direction of attack. With each passing hour, the amount of forces and means transported to the bridgehead increased. In the middle of the day, the attackers reached the second line of German defense. Sensing the threat of a major breakthrough, the German command, already on the first day of the operation, threw into battle not only its tactical, but also operational reserves, giving them the task of throwing the advancing Soviet troops into the river. However, by the end of the day, front troops broke through the main defense line on the 26 km front and advanced to a depth of 13 km.

Storm of Berlin

By the morning of April 17, the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies crossed the Neisse in full force. All day long, the front troops, overcoming stubborn enemy resistance, continued to widen and deepen the gap in the German defense. Aviation support for the advancing troops was provided by pilots of the 2nd Air Army. Attack aircraft, acting at the request of ground commanders, destroyed enemy fire weapons and manpower at the front line. Bomber aircraft destroyed suitable reserves. By mid-April 17, the following situation had developed in the zone of the 1st Ukrainian Front: the tank armies of Rybalko and Lelyushenko were marching west along a narrow corridor pierced by troops of the 13th, 3rd and 5th Guards armies. By the end of the day they approached the Spree and began crossing it.

Meanwhile, in the secondary, Dresden, direction, the troops of the 52nd Army of General K. A. Koroteev and the 2nd Army of the Troops of the Polish General K. K. Swierchevsky broke through the enemy’s tactical defenses and in two days of fighting advanced to a depth of 20 km.

Taking into account the slow advance of the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, as well as the success achieved in the zone of the 1st Ukrainian Front, on the night of April 18, the Headquarters decided to turn the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front to Berlin. In his order to the army commanders Rybalko and Lelyushenko for the offensive, the front commander wrote: “In the main direction, with a tank fist, push forward boldly and decisively. Bypass cities and large settlements and not get involved in protracted frontal battles. I demand that you firmly understand that the success of tank armies depends on courageous maneuver and swiftness in actions"

Following the orders of the commander, on April 18 and 19 the tank armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front marched uncontrollably towards Berlin. The rate of their advance reached 35-50 km per day. At the same time, the combined arms armies were preparing to eliminate large enemy groups in the area of ​​Cottbus and Spremberg.

By the end of the day on April 20, the main strike group of the 1st Ukrainian Front was deeply wedged into the enemy’s position and completely cut off the German Army Group Vistula from Army Group Center. Sensing the threat caused by the rapid actions of the tank armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front, the German command took a number of measures to strengthen the approaches to Berlin. To strengthen the defense, infantry and tank units were urgently sent to the area of ​​​​the cities of Zossen, Luckenwalde, and Jutterbog. Overcoming their stubborn resistance, Rybalko’s tankers reached the outer Berlin defensive perimeter on the night of April 21. By the morning of April 22, Sukhov's 9th Mechanized Corps and Mitrofanov's 6th Guards Tank Corps of the 3rd Guards Tank Army crossed the Notte Canal, broke through the outer defensive perimeter of Berlin, and by the end of the day reached the southern bank of the Teltovkanal. There, encountering strong and well-organized enemy resistance, they were stopped.

On the afternoon of April 22, a meeting of the top military leadership was held at Hitler’s headquarters, at which it was decided to remove W. Wenck’s 12th Army from the Western Front and send it to join the semi-encircled 9th Army of T. Busse. To organize the offensive of the 12th Army, Field Marshal Keitel was sent to its headquarters. This was the last serious attempt to influence the course of the battle, since by the end of the day on April 22, the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts had formed and almost closed two encirclement rings. One is around the enemy’s 9th Army east and southeast of Berlin; the other is to the west of Berlin, around the units directly defending in the city.

The Teltow Canal was a fairly serious obstacle: a water-filled ditch with high concrete banks forty to fifty meters wide. In addition, its northern coast was very well prepared for defense: trenches, reinforced concrete pillboxes, tanks dug into the ground and self-propelled guns. Above the canal is an almost continuous wall of houses, bristling with fire, with walls a meter or more thick. Having assessed the situation, the Soviet command decided to carry out thorough preparations for crossing the Teltow Canal. All day on April 23, the 3rd Guards Tank Army prepared for the assault. By the morning of April 24, a powerful artillery group, with a density of up to 650 guns per kilometer of front, was concentrated on the southern bank of the Teltow Canal, intended to destroy German fortifications on the opposite bank. Having suppressed the enemy defenses with a powerful artillery strike, the troops of the 6th Guards Tank Corps of Major General Mitrofanov successfully crossed the Teltow Canal and captured a bridgehead on its northern bank. On the afternoon of April 24, Wenck's 12th Army launched the first tank attacks on the positions of General Ermakov's 5th Guards Mechanized Corps (4th Guards Tank Army) and units of the 13th Army. All attacks were successfully repulsed with the support of the 1st Assault Aviation Corps of Lieutenant General Ryazanov.

At 12 noon on April 25, west of Berlin, the advanced units of the 4th Guards Tank Army met with units of the 47th Army of the 1st Belorussian Front. Something else happened that same day significant event. An hour and a half later, on the Elbe, the 34th Guards Corps of General Baklanov of the 5th Guards Army met with American troops.

From April 25 to May 2, troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front fought fierce battles in three directions: units of the 28th Army, 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies took part in the assault on Berlin; part of the forces of the 4th Guards Tank Army, together with the 13th Army, repelled the counterattack of the 12th German Army; The 3rd Guards Army and part of the forces of the 28th Army blocked and destroyed the encircled 9th Army.

All the time from the beginning of the operation, the command of Army Group Center sought to disrupt the offensive of the Soviet troops. On April 20, German troops launched the first counterattack on the left flank of the 1st Ukrainian Front and pushed back the troops of the 52nd Army and the 2nd Army of the Polish Army. On April 23, a new powerful counterattack followed, as a result of which the defense at the junction of the 52nd Army and the 2nd Army of the Polish Army was broken through and German troops advanced 20 km into general direction on Spremberg, threatening to reach the rear of the front.

From April 17 to 19, troops of the 65th Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front, under the command of Colonel General P.I. Batov, conducted reconnaissance in force and advanced detachments captured the Oder interfluve, thereby facilitating subsequent crossings of the river. On the morning of April 20, the main forces of the 2nd Belorussian Front went on the offensive: the 65th, 70th and 49th armies. The crossing of the Oder took place under the cover of artillery fire and smoke screens. The offensive developed most successfully in the sector of the 65th Army, which was largely due to the engineering troops of the army. Having established two 16-ton pontoon crossings by 1 p.m., the troops of this army captured a bridgehead 6 kilometers wide and 1.5 kilometers deep by the evening of April 20.

More modest success was achieved on the central sector of the front in the 70th Army zone. The left-flank 49th Army met stubborn resistance and was unsuccessful. All day and all night on April 21, front troops, repelling numerous attacks by German troops, persistently expanded bridgeheads on the western bank of the Oder. In the current situation, front commander K.K. Rokossovsky decided to send the 49th Army along the crossings of the right neighbor of the 70th Army, and then return it to its offensive zone. By April 25, as a result of fierce battles, front troops expanded the captured bridgehead to 35 km along the front and up to 15 km in depth. To build up striking power, the 2nd Shock Army, as well as the 1st and 3rd Guards Tank Corps, were transported to the western bank of the Oder. At the first stage of the operation, the 2nd Belorussian Front, through its actions, shackled the main forces of the 3rd German Tank Army, depriving it of the opportunity to help those fighting near Berlin. On April 26, formations of the 65th Army took Stettin by storm. Subsequently, the armies of the 2nd Belorussian Front, breaking enemy resistance and destroying suitable reserves, stubbornly advanced to the west. On May 3, Panfilov's 3rd Guards Tank Corps southwest of Wismar established contact with the advanced units of the 2nd British Army.

Liquidation of the Frankfurt-Guben group

By the end of April 24, formations of the 28th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front came into contact with units of the 8th Guards Army of the 1st Belorussian Front, thereby encircling the 9th Army of General Busse southeast of Berlin and cutting it off from the city. The surrounded group of German troops began to be called the Frankfurt-Gubensky group. Now the Soviet command was faced with the task of eliminating the 200,000-strong enemy group and preventing its breakthrough to Berlin or to the West. To accomplish the last task, the 3rd Guards Army and part of the forces of the 28th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front took up active defense in the path of a possible breakthrough of German troops. On April 26, the 3rd, 69th, and 33rd armies of the 1st Belorussian Front began the final liquidation of the encircled units. However, the enemy not only put up stubborn resistance, but also repeatedly made attempts to break out of the encirclement. By skillfully maneuvering and skillfully creating superiority in forces on narrow sections of the front, German troops twice managed to break through the encirclement. However, each time the Soviet command took decisive measures to eliminate the breakthrough. Until May 2, the encircled units of the 9th German Army made desperate attempts to break through the battle formations of the 1st Ukrainian Front to the west, to join the 12th Army of General Wenck. Only a few small groups managed to penetrate through the forests and go west.

Capture of the Reichstag

At 12 noon on April 25, the ring closed around Berlin when the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps of the 4th Guards Tank Army crossed the Havel River and linked up with units of the 328th Division of the 47th Army of General Perkhorovich. By that time, according to the Soviet command, the Berlin garrison numbered at least 200 thousand people, 3 thousand guns and 250 tanks. The city's defense was carefully thought out and well prepared. It was based on a system of strong fire, strongholds and resistance units. The closer to the city center, the denser the defense became. Massive stone buildings with thick walls gave it particular strength. The windows and doors of many buildings were sealed and turned into embrasures for firing. The streets were blocked by powerful barricades up to four meters thick. The defenders had a large number of faustpatrons, which in the context of street battles turned out to be a formidable anti-tank weapon. Of no small importance in the enemy’s defense system were underground structures, which were widely used by the enemy to maneuver troops, as well as to shelter them from artillery and bomb attacks.

By April 26, six armies of the 1st Belorussian Front (47th, 3rd and 5th shock, 8th Guards, 1st and 2nd Guards Tank armies) and three armies of the 1st Belorussian Front took part in the assault on Berlin. th Ukrainian Front (28th, 3rd and 4th Guards Tank). Considering the experience of taking major cities, for battles in the city, assault detachments were created consisting of rifle battalions or companies, reinforced with tanks, artillery and sappers. The actions of assault troops, as a rule, were preceded by a short but powerful artillery preparation.

By April 27, as a result of the actions of the armies of two fronts that had deeply advanced to the center of Berlin, the enemy grouping in Berlin stretched out in a narrow strip from east to west - sixteen kilometers long and two or three, in some places five kilometers wide. The fighting in the city did not stop day or night. Block after block, Soviet troops “gnawed through” the enemy’s defenses. So, by the evening of April 28, units of the 3rd Shock Army reached the Reichstag area. On the night of April 29, the actions of the forward battalions under the command of Captain S. A. Neustroev and Senior Lieutenant K. Ya. Samsonov captured the Moltke Bridge. At dawn on April 30, the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, adjacent to the parliament building, was stormed at the cost of considerable losses. The path to the Reichstag was open.

Victory Banner over the Reichstag

On April 30, 1945 at 21.30, units of the 150th Infantry Division under the command of Major General V.M. Shatilov and the 171st Infantry Division under the command of Colonel A.I. Negoda stormed the main part of the Reichstag building. The remaining Nazi units offered stubborn resistance. We had to fight for every room. In the early morning of May 1, the assault flag of the 150th Infantry Division was raised over the Reichstag, but the battle for the Reichstag continued all day and only on the night of May 2 did the Reichstag garrison capitulate.

On May 1, only the Tiergarten and the government quarter remained in German hands. The imperial chancellery was located here, in the courtyard of which there was a bunker at Hitler's headquarters. On the night of May 1, by prior agreement, the Chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces, General Krebs, arrived at the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army. He informed the army commander, General V.I. Chuikov, about Hitler’s suicide and the proposal of the new German government to conclude a truce. The message was immediately transmitted to G.K. Zhukov, who himself called Moscow. Stalin confirmed his categorical demand for unconditional surrender. At 18:00 on May 1, the new German government rejected the demand for unconditional surrender, and Soviet troops were forced to resume the assault with renewed vigor.

At one o'clock in the morning on May 2, the radio stations of the 1st Belorussian Front received a message in Russian: “We ask you to cease fire. We are sending envoys to the Potsdam Bridge.” A German officer who arrived at the appointed place, on behalf of the commander of the defense of Berlin, General Weidling, announced the readiness of the Berlin garrison to stop resistance. At 6 a.m. on May 2, Artillery General Weidling, accompanied by three German generals, crossed the front line and surrendered. An hour later, while at the headquarters of the 8th Guards Army, he wrote a surrender order, which was duplicated and, with the help of loudspeaker installations and radio, delivered to enemy units defending in the center of Berlin. As this order was communicated to the defenders, resistance in the city ceased. By the end of the day, the troops of the 8th Guards Army cleared the central part of the city from the enemy. Some units that did not want to surrender tried to break through to the west, but were destroyed or scattered.

Losses of the parties

USSR

From April 16 to May 8, Soviet troops lost 352,475 people, of which 78,291 were irretrievable. The losses of Polish troops during the same period amounted to 8,892 people, of which 2,825 were irretrievable. The losses of military equipment amounted to 1,997 tanks and self-propelled guns, 2,108 guns and mortars, and 917 combat aircraft.

Germany

According to combat reports from the Soviet fronts:

• The troops of the 1st Belorussian Front in the period from April 16 to May 13 destroyed 232,726 people and captured 250,675 people
• The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front killed 114,349 people and captured 55,080 people between April 15 and 29
• Troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front in the period from April 5 to May 8: destroyed 49,770 people, captured 84,234 people

Thus, according to reports from the Soviet command, the losses of German troops amounted to about 400 thousand people killed and about 380 thousand people captured. Part of the German troops was pushed back to the Elbe and capitulated to the Allied forces.

Also, according to the assessment of the Soviet command, the total number of troops that emerged from the encirclement in the Berlin area does not exceed 17,000 people with 80-90 units of armored vehicles.

Did Hitler have a chance?

Under the onslaught of the advancing armies, Hitler’s feverish intentions to take refuge either in Berchtesgaden, or in Schleswig-Holstein, or in the South Tyrol fortress advertised by Goebbels, collapsed. To the proposal of the Gauleiter of Tyrol to move to this fortress in the mountains, Hitler, according to Rattenhuber, “hopelessly waved his hand and said: “I no longer see the point in this running from place to place.” The situation in Berlin at the end of April left no doubt that that our last days had arrived. Events unfolded faster than we expected."

Hitler's last plane was still standing at the airfield. When the plane was destroyed, they hastily began to build an airstrip near the Reich Chancellery. The squadron intended for Hitler was burned by Soviet artillery. But his personal pilot was still with him. The new Air Commander-in-Chief, Graham, was still sending planes, but none of them could make it to Berlin. And, according to Greim’s precise information, not a single plane from Berlin crossed the offensive ring. There was essentially nowhere to move. Armies were advancing from all sides. He considered it a hopeless task to flee from fallen Berlin in order to get caught by the Anglo-American troops.

He chose a different plan. From here, from Berlin, enter into negotiations with the British and Americans, who, in his opinion, should be interested in ensuring that the Russians do not take possession of the German capital, and negotiate some tolerable conditions for themselves. But negotiations, he believed, could only take place on the basis of an improved military situation in Berlin. The plan was unrealistic and unfeasible. But he owned Hitler, and, figuring out historical picture the last days of the Imperial Chancellery, it should not be bypassed. Hitler could not help but understand that even a temporary improvement in Berlin's position, given the overall catastrophic military situation in Germany, would change little overall. But this was, according to his calculations, a necessary political prerequisite for negotiations, on which he pinned his last hopes.

That’s why he talks with manic frenzy about Wenck’s army. There is no doubt that Hitler was absolutely incapable of leading the defense of Berlin. But we are talking here now only about his plans. There is a letter confirming Hitler's plan. It was sent to Wenk by messenger on the night of April 29. This letter reached our military commandant's office in Spandau on May 7, 1945, in this way.

A certain Josef Brichtsi, a seventeen-year-old boy who was studying to become an electrician and was drafted into the Volkssturm in February 1945, served in an anti-tank detachment defending the government quarter. On the night of April 29, he and another sixteen-year-old boy were called from the barracks from Wilhelmstrasse, and a soldier took them to the Reich Chancellery. Here they were taken to Borman. Bormann announced to them that they had been chosen to carry out the most important task. They have to break out of the encirclement and deliver a letter to General Wenck, commander of the 12th Army. With these words, he handed them each a package.

The fate of the second guy is unknown. Brikhtsi managed to get out of surrounded Berlin on a motorcycle at dawn on April 29. General Wenck, he was told, would be found in the village of Ferch, northwest of Potsdam. Having reached Potsdam, Brikhtsi discovered that none of the military knew or heard where Wenck's headquarters actually were. Then Brikhtsi decided to go to Spandau, where his uncle lived. My uncle advised me not to go anywhere else, but to hand over the package to the military commandant’s office. After waiting, Brikhtsi took it to the Soviet military commandant’s office on May 7.

Here is the text of the letter: “Dear General Wenck! As can be seen from the attached messages, Reichsführer SS Himmler made an offer to the Anglo-Americans that unconditionally hands over our people to the plutocrats. The turnaround can only be carried out personally by the Fuhrer, only by him! A precondition for this is the immediate establishment of communication Wenck's army is with us, in order to thus provide the Fuhrer with internal and foreign political freedom to negotiate. Your Krebs, Heil Hitler, head of the General Staff!

All of the above suggests that, being in such a hopeless situation in April 1945, Hitler still hoped for something and this last hope was pinned on Wenck’s army. Wenck's army, meanwhile, was moving from the west to Berlin. She was met on the outskirts of Berlin by our troops advancing on the Elbe and scattered. Thus, Hitler's last hope melted away.

Results of the operation

The famous monument to the Soldier-Liberator in Treptower Park in Berlin

• Destruction of the largest group of German troops, capture of the capital of Germany, capture of the highest military and political leadership of Germany.

• The fall of Berlin and the loss of the German leadership's ability to govern led to the almost complete cessation of organized resistance on the part of the German armed forces.

• Berlin operation demonstrated to the allies the high combat capability of the Red Army and was one of the reasons for the cancellation of Operation Unthinkable, Britain's plan for a full-scale war against the Soviet Union. However, this decision did not subsequently influence the development of the arms race and the beginning of the Cold War.

• Hundreds of thousands of people were released from German captivity, including at least 200 thousand citizens of foreign countries. In the zone of the 2nd Belorussian Front alone, in the period from April 5 to May 8, 197,523 people were released from captivity, of which 68,467 were citizens of the allied states.

And the end of bloodshed, because it was she who put an end to the end of the Great Patriotic War.

In the period from January to March 1945, Soviet troops fought active battles in Germany. Thanks to unprecedented heroism in the area and Neisse, Soviet troops captured strategic bridgeheads, including the Küstrin area.

The Berlin operation lasted only 23 days, began on April 16 and ended on May 8, 1945. Our troops rushed across German territory to the west over a distance of almost 220 km, and the front of fierce hostilities stretched over a width of more than 300 km.

At the same time, without encountering particularly organized resistance, the Anglo-American allied forces were approaching Berlin.

The plan of the Soviet troops was, first of all, to deliver several powerful and unexpected attacks on a wide front. The second task was to separate the remains fascist troops, namely the Berlin group. The third, final part of the plan was to encircle and finally destroy the remnants of the fascist troops piece by piece and at this stage capture the city of Berlin.

But before the main, decisive battle in the war began, a huge preparatory work. Soviet aircraft conducted 6 reconnaissance flights. Their goal was to take aerial photographs of Berlin. The scouts were interested in the fascist defensive zones of the city and fortifications. Almost 15 thousand aerial photographs were taken by pilots. Based on the results of these surveys and interviews with prisoners, special maps of the city’s fortified areas were compiled. It was they who were successfully used in organizing the offensive of the Soviet troops.

A detailed terrain plan and enemy defensive fortifications, which were studied in detail, ensured a successful assault on Berlin and military operations in the center of the capital.

In order to deliver weapons and ammunition, as well as fuel, on time, Soviet engineers converted the German railway track to the usual Russian track all the way to the Oder.

The assault on Berlin was prepared carefully; for this purpose, along with maps, an accurate model of the city was made. It showed the layout of streets and squares. The slightest features of attacks and assaults on the streets of the capital were worked out.

In addition, intelligence officers carried out disinformation on the enemy, and the date of the strategic offensive was kept strictly secret. Only two hours before the attack, junior commanders had the right to tell their subordinate Red Army soldiers about the offensive.

The Berlin operation of 1945 began on April 16 with the main attack of Soviet troops from a bridgehead in the Küstrin area on the Oder River. First, Soviet artillery struck powerfully, and then aviation.

The Berlin operation was a fierce battle, the remnants of the fascist army did not want to give up the capital, because this would be a complete fall. The fighting was very fierce, the enemy had an order - not to surrender Berlin.

As noted earlier, the Berlin operation lasted only 23 days. Considering that the battle took place on the territory of the Reich, and it was the agony of fascism, the battle was special.

The heroic 1st Belorussian Front was the first to act, it was he who dealt the strongest blow to the enemy, and the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front began an active offensive at the same time on the Neisse River.

It must be taken into account that the Nazis were well prepared for defense. On the banks of the Neisse and Oder rivers they created powerful defensive fortifications that stretched up to 40 kilometers in depth.

The city of Berlin at that time consisted of three built in the form of rings. The Nazis skillfully used obstacles: every lake, river, canal and numerous ravines, and the surviving large buildings played the role of strongholds, ready for all-round defense. The streets and squares of Berlin have turned into real barricades.

Starting April 21, as soon as Soviet army entered Berlin, and until the very end there were endless battles on the streets of the capital. Streets and houses were stormed, battles even took place in subway tunnels, sewer pipes, and dungeons.

The Berlin offensive operation ended in victory for the Soviet troops. The last efforts of the Nazi command to keep Berlin in their hands ended in complete failure.

In this operation, April 20 became a special day. This was a turning point in the Battle of Berlin, as Berlin fell on April 21, but even before May 2, there were life-and-death battles. April 25th also happened most important event, since Ukrainian troops in the area of ​​​​the cities of Torgau and Riesa met with soldiers of the 1st American Army.

On April 30, Red was already developing over the Reichstag, and on the same April 30, Hitler, the mastermind of the bloodiest war of the century, took poison.

On May 8, 1945, the main document of the war was signed, the act of complete surrender of Nazi Germany.

During the operation, our troops lost about 350 thousand people. The losses of the Red Army's manpower amounted to 15 thousand people per day.

Undoubtedly, this war, inhuman in its cruelty, was won by a simple Soviet soldier, because he knew that he was dying for his Motherland!

How did this most important thing go? historical event. What preceded it, what were the plans and alignment of forces of the warring parties. How the operation of the Soviet troops to capture Berlin developed, the chronology of events, the storming of the Reichstag with the hoisting of the Victory Banner and the significance of the historical battle.

The capture of Berlin and the fall of the Third Reich

By mid-spring 1945, the main events were unfolding across a large part of Germany. By this time, Poland, Hungary, almost all of Czechoslovakia, Eastern Pomerania and Silesia had been liberated. Red Army troops liberated the capital of Austria, Vienna. The defeat of large enemy groups in East Prussia, Courland, and the Zemland Peninsula was completed. Most of the Baltic Sea coast remained with our army. Finland, Bulgaria, Romania and Italy were withdrawn from the war.

In the south, the Yugoslav army, together with Soviet troops, cleared most of Serbia and its capital Belgrade from the Nazis. From the west, the Allies crossed the Rhine and the operation to defeat the Ruhr group was coming to an end.

The German economy was experiencing enormous difficulties. Raw materials areas of previously occupied countries were lost. The decline in industry continued. Military production fell by more than 60 percent in six months. In addition, the Wehrmacht experienced difficulties with mobilization resources. Sixteen-year-old boys were already subject to conscription. However, Berlin still remained not only the political capital of fascism, but also a major economic center. In addition, Hitler concentrated his main forces with enormous combat potential in the Berlin direction.

That is why the defeat of the Berlin group of German troops and the capture of the capital of the Third Reich was so important. The Battle of Berlin and its fall was supposed to put an end to the Great Patriotic War and become a natural outcome of the Second World War of 1939-1945.

Berlin offensive operation

All participants in the anti-Hitler coalition were interested in the speedy completion of hostilities. Fundamental questions, namely: who will take Berlin, the division of spheres of influence in Europe, the post-war structure of Germany and others were resolved in Crimea at a conference in Yalta.

The enemy understood that the war was strategically lost, but in the current situation he tried to extract tactical benefits. His main task began to prolong the war in order to find ways to enter into separate negotiations with the Western allies of the USSR in order to obtain more favorable terms of surrender.

There is also an opinion that Hitler had hope for the so-called retaliation weapon, which was at the stage of final development and was supposed to change the balance of power. That is why the Wehrmacht needed time, and losses did not play any role here. Therefore, Hitler concentrated 214 divisions on the Soviet-German front, and only 60 on the American-British front.

Preparation of an offensive operation, position and tasks of the parties. Balance of forces and means

On the German side, the defense of the Berlin direction was entrusted to army groups "Center" and "Vistula". The construction of layered defense was carried out from the beginning of 1945. The main part of it was the Oder-Neissen line and the Berlin defensive region.

The first was a deep defense of three stripes up to forty kilometers wide, with powerful strongholds, engineering barriers and areas prepared for flooding.

In the Berlin defensive area, three so-called defensive rings were equipped. The first, or external, was prepared at a distance of twenty-five to forty kilometers from the center of the capital. It included strongholds and points of resistance in settlements, defense lines along rivers and canals. The second main, or internal, up to eight kilometers deep, ran along the outskirts of Berlin. All lines and positions were tied into a single fire system. The third city circuit coincided with the ring railway. The command of Hitler's troops divided Berlin itself into nine sectors. The streets leading to the city center were barricaded, the first floors of buildings were turned into long-term firing points and structures, trenches and caponiers were dug for guns and tanks. All positions were connected by communication passages. For covert maneuvers, it was planned to actively use the metro as rolling roads.

The operation of the Soviet troops to capture Berlin began to be developed during the winter offensive.

Plan for the "Battle of Berlin"

The command’s plan was to break through the Oder-Neissen line with coordinated strikes from three fronts, then, developing the offensive, reach Berlin, encircle the enemy group, cut it into several parts and destroy it. Subsequently, no later than 15 days from the start of the operation, reach the Elbe to join the Allied forces. To do this, the Headquarters decided to involve the 1st and 2nd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts.

Due to the fact that the Soviet-German front narrowed, the Nazis in the Berlin direction managed to achieve an incredible density of troops. In some areas it reached 1 division per 3 kilometers of front line. Army Groups Center and Vistula included 48 infantry, 6 tank, 9 motorized divisions, 37 separate infantry regiments, 98 separate infantry battalions. The Nazis also had approximately two thousand aircraft, including 120 jets. In addition, about two hundred battalions, the so-called Volkssturm, were formed in the Berlin garrison, their total number exceeded two hundred thousand people.

The three Soviet fronts outnumbered the enemy and had the 21st combined arms army, 4 tank and 3 air forces, in addition, 10 separate tank and mechanized and 4 cavalry corps. It was also planned to involve the Baltic Fleet, the Dnieper Military Flotilla, long-range aviation and part of the country's air defense forces. In addition, Polish formations took part in the operation - they included 2 armies, a tank and aviation corps, 2 artillery divisions, and a mortar brigade.

At the beginning of the operation, Soviet troops had an advantage over the Germans:

• in personnel by 2.5 times;
• in guns and mortars 4 times;
• in tanks and self-propelled artillery units by 4.1 times;
• in airplanes 2.3 times.

Start of operation

The offensive was about to begin April 16. In front of him, in the offensive zone of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts, one rifle battalion from each tried to open fire weapons on the front line of the enemy’s defense.

IN 5.00 On the appointed date, artillery preparation began. After that 1 1st Belorussian Front under the command of Marshal Zhukov went on the offensive, delivering three blows: one main and two auxiliary. The main one is in the direction of Berlin through the Seelow Heights and the city of Seelow, auxiliary ones are to the north and south of the capital of Germany. The enemy stubbornly resisted, and it was not possible to take the heights from a swoop. After a series of outflanking maneuvers, it was only towards the end of the day that our army finally took the city of Seelow.

On the first and second days of the operation, fighting took place in the first line of defense of the German fascists. Only on April 17 was it finally possible to make a hole in the second lane. The German command tried to stop the offensive by bringing available reserves into the battle, but were unsuccessful. The battles continued on April 18 and 19. The pace of progress remained very slow. The Nazis were not going to give up; their defenses were filled with a large number of anti-tank weapons. Dense artillery fire, constrained maneuver due to difficult terrain - all this influenced the actions of our troops. Nevertheless, on April 19, at the end of the day, they broke through the third and final line of defense of this line. As a result, in the first four days the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front advanced 30 kilometers.

The offensive of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal Konev was more successful. During the first 24 hours, the troops crossed the Neisse River, broke through the first line of defense and penetrated to a depth of 13 kilometers. The next day, throwing the main forces of the front into battle, they broke through the second line and advanced 20 kilometers. The enemy retreated across the Spree River. The Wehrmacht, preventing a deep bypass of the entire Berlin group, transferred the reserves of the Center group to this area. Despite this, our troops crossed the Spree River on April 18 and broke the front line of the defense of the third zone. At the end of the third day, in the direction of the main attack, the 1st Ukrainian Front advanced to a depth of 30 kilometers. In the process of further movement, by the second half of April, our units and formations cut off Army Group Vistula from the Center. Large enemy forces were semi-encircled.

The troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front, commanded by Marshal Rokossovsky, According to the plan, the attack was supposed to take place on April 20, but in order to facilitate the task, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front began to cross the Oder on the 18th. By their actions they drew part of the enemy’s forces and reserves onto themselves. Preparations for the main phase of the operation were completed.

Storm of Berlin

All 3 Soviet fronts before April 20 basically completed the task of breaking through the Oder-Neissen line and destroying Nazi troops in the suburbs of Berlin. It was time to move on to the assault on the German capital itself.

Start of the battle

On April 20, troops of the 1st Belorussian Front began shelling the outskirts of Berlin with long-range artillery, and 21 broke through the first bypass line. From April 22, fighting took place directly in the city. The distance between the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front advancing from the northeast and the 1st Ukrainian Front from the south decreased. The preconditions were created for the complete encirclement of the German capital, and the opportunity also arose to cut off from the city and encircle a large group of the enemy’s 9th Infantry Army, numbering up to two hundred thousand people, with the task of preventing its breakthrough to Berlin or retreat to the west. This plan was implemented on April 23 and 24.

To avoid encirclement, the Wehrmacht command decided to withdraw all troops from the western front and throw them into the relief blockade of the capital and the encircled 9th Army. On April 26, part of the forces of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian Fronts took up defensive positions. It was necessary to prevent a breakthrough from both inside and outside.

The battles to destroy the encircled group continued until May 1. In some areas, fascist German troops managed to break through the defense ring and reach westward, but these attempts were stopped in time. Only small groups were able to break through and surrender to the Americans. In total, in this sector, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian Fronts managed to capture about 120 thousand soldiers and officers, a large number of tanks and field guns.

On April 25, Soviet troops met with American troops on the Elbe. Through well-organized defense and access to the Elbe, units of the 1st Ukrainian Front created a very successful bridgehead. It became important for the subsequent attack on Prague.

Climax of the Battle of Berlin

Meanwhile, in Berlin, fighting reached its climax. Assault troops and groups advanced deeper into the city. They consistently moved from building to building, from block to block, from area to area, destroying pockets of resistance, disrupting the control of the defenders. In the city, the use of tanks was limited.

However, tanks played an important role in the Battle of Berlin. Tempered in tank battles on the Kursk Bulge, during the liberation of Belarus and Ukraine, the tank crews were not intimidated by Berlin. But they were used only in close cooperation with infantry. Single attempts, as a rule, led to losses. Artillery units also encountered certain application features. Some of them were assigned to assault groups for direct fire and destructive shooting.

Storming of the Reichstag. Banner over the Reichstag

On April 27, battles for the city center began, which were not interrupted day or night. The Berlin garrison did not stop fighting. On April 28, it flared up again near the Reichstag. It was organized by the troops of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front. But our soldiers were able to get close to the building only on April 30.

The assault groups were given red flags, one of which, belonging to the 150th Rifle Division of the 3rd Shock Army of the 1st Belorussian Front, later became the Victory Banner. It was erected on May 1 on the pediment of the building by soldiers of the rifle regiment of the Idritsa division M.A. Egorov and M.V Kantaria. It was a symbol of the capture of the main fascist stronghold.

Victory Standard Bearers

While preparations for the Victory Parade in June 1945 were in full swing, the question did not even arise about who to appoint as the Victory standard bearers. It was Egorov and Kantaria who were instructed to act as assistants to the flag bearer and carry the Victory Banner across main square countries.

Unfortunately, the plans were not allowed to come true. The front-line soldiers who defeated the fascists were unable to cope with combat science. In addition, battle wounds were still making themselves felt. Despite everything, they trained very hard, sparing neither effort nor time.

Marshal G.K. Zhukov, who hosted that famous parade, looked at the rehearsal of carrying the banner and came to the conclusion that it would be too difficult for the heroes of the Battle of Berlin. Therefore, he ordered the removal of the Banner to be canceled and the parade to be held without this symbolic part.

But 20 years later, two heroes still carried the Victory Banner across Red Square. This happened at the 1965 Victory Parade.

Capture of Berlin

The capture of Berlin did not end with the storming of the Reichstag. By May 30, the German troops defending the city were cut into four parts. Their management was completely disrupted. The Germans were on the brink of disaster. That same day, the Fuhrer took his own life. On May 1, the Chief of the Wehrmacht General Staff, General Krebe, entered into negotiations with the Soviet command and proposed a temporary cessation of hostilities. Zhukov put forward the only demand - unconditional surrender. It was rejected and the assault resumed.

In the dead of night on May 2, the commander of the defense of the German capital, General Weidling, surrendered, and our radio stations began to receive a message from the Nazis asking for a ceasefire. By 15.00 the resistance had completely ceased. The historical assault is over.

The Battle of Berlin ended, but the offensive operation continued. The 1st Ukrainian Front began a regrouping, the purpose of which was to attack Prague and liberate Czechoslovakia. At the same time, by May 7, the 1st Belorussian reached a broad front towards the Elbe. The 2nd Belorussian reached the shores of the Baltic Sea, and also entered into interaction with the 2nd British Army positioned on the Elbe. Subsequently, he began the liberation of the Danish islands in the Baltic Sea.

Results of the assault on Berlin and the entire Berlin operation

The active phase of the Berlin operation lasted just over two weeks. Its results are as follows:

• a large group of Nazis was defeated, the Wehrmacht command practically lost control of the remaining troops;
• the bulk of Germany's top leadership was captured, as well as almost 380 thousand soldiers and officers;
• gained experience in using different types of troops in urban battles;
• made an invaluable contribution to Soviet military art;
• According to various estimates, it was the Berlin operation that dissuaded the leadership of the United States and Britain from starting a war against the USSR.

On the night of May 9, Field Marshal Keitel signed an act in Potsdam that meant the complete and unconditional surrender of Germany. So May 9 became the Day Great Victory. A conference was soon held there, at which the fate of post-war Germany was decided and the map of Europe was finally redrawn. There were still a few months left before the end of the Second World War of 1939-1945.

All heroes of the battle were noted by the leadership of the USSR. More than six hundred people were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In addition, in order to recognize special services to the Fatherland, a medal was developed "For the capture of Berlin." An interesting fact: the fighting in the German capital was still ongoing, but a sketch had already been presented in Moscow future medal. The Soviet leadership wanted Russian soldiers to know that wherever they fought for the glory of the Motherland, their heroes would find their rewards.

More than a million people were awarded. In addition to our soldiers, soldiers of the Polish army who particularly distinguished themselves in battle also received medals. There are a total of seven such awards, established for victories in cities outside the borders of the USSR.

Berlin operation 1945

After the end of the Vistula-Oder operation, the Soviet Union and Germany began preparations for the battle for Berlin as decisive battle on the Oder, as the culmination of the war.

By mid-April, the Germans concentrated 1 million people, 10.5 thousand guns, 1.5 thousand tanks and 3.3 thousand aircraft on a 300-kilometer front along the Oder and Neisse.

The Soviet side had accumulated enormous forces: 2.5 million people, over 40 thousand guns, more than 6 thousand tanks, 7.5 thousand aircraft.

Three Soviet fronts operated in the Berlin direction: 1st Belorussian (commander - Marshal G.K. Zhukov), 2nd Belorussian (commander - Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky) and 1st Ukrainian (commander - Marshal I.S. Konev).

The attack on Berlin began on April 16, 1945. The heaviest battles took place in the sector of the 1st Belorussian Front, where the Seelow Heights were located, covering the central direction. (The Seelow Heights are a ridge of heights on the North German Lowland, 50–60 km east of Berlin. It runs along the left bank of the old riverbed of the Oder River with a length of up to 20 km. At these heights, a well-equipped 2nd defense line was created Germans, which was occupied by the 9th Army.)

To capture Berlin, the Soviet High Command used not only a frontal attack by the 1st Belorussian Front, but also a flank maneuver by formations of the 1st Ukrainian Front, which broke through to the German capital from the south.

The troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front advanced towards the Baltic coast of Germany, covering the right flank of the forces advancing on Berlin.

In addition, it was planned to use part of the forces of the Baltic Fleet (Admiral V.F. Tributs), the Dnieper Military Flotilla (Rear Admiral V.V. Grigoriev), the 18th Air Army, and three air defense corps.

Hoping to defend Berlin and avoid unconditional surrender, the German leadership mobilized all the country's resources. As before, the German command sent the main forces of the ground forces and aviation against the Red Army. By April 15, 214 German divisions were fighting on the Soviet-German front, including 34 tank and 14 motorized and 14 brigades. 60 German divisions, including 5 tank divisions, acted against the Anglo-American troops. The Germans created a powerful defense in the east of the country.

Berlin was covered to great depth by numerous defensive structures erected along the western banks of the Oder and Neisse rivers. This line consisted of three stripes 20–40 km deep. In engineering terms, the defense in front of the Küstrin bridgehead and in the Kotbu direction, where the strongest groups of Nazi troops were concentrated, was especially well prepared.

Berlin itself was turned into a powerful fortified area with three defensive rings (outer, inner, city). The central sector of the capital, where the main government and administrative institutions were located, was especially carefully prepared in terms of engineering. There were more than 400 reinforced concrete permanent structures in the city. The largest of them were six-story bunkers dug into the ground, each holding up to a thousand people. The subway was used for covert maneuver of troops.

The German troops occupying the defensive in the Berlin direction were united into four armies. In addition to the regular troops, Volkssturm battalions, which were formed from young people and old men, were involved in the defense. The total number of the Berlin garrison exceeded 200 thousand people.

On April 15, Hitler addressed the soldiers of the Eastern Front with an appeal to repel the offensive of the Soviet troops at all costs.

The plan of the Soviet command envisaged powerful strikes by troops from all three fronts to break through the enemy’s defenses along the Oder and Neisse, encircle the main group of German troops in the Berlin direction, and reach the Elbe.

On April 21, the advanced units of the 1st Belorussian Front broke into the northern and southeastern outskirts of Berlin.

On April 24, southeast of Berlin, troops of the 1st Belorussian Front met with formations of the 1st Ukrainian Front. The next day, these fronts were united to the west of the German capital - thus completing the encirclement of the entire Berlin enemy group.

On the same day, units of the 5th Guards Army of General A.S. Zhadov met on the banks of the Elbe in the Torgau region with reconnaissance groups of the 5th Corps of the 1st American Army of General O. Bradley. The German front was cut. The Americans have 80 km left to Berlin. Since the Germans willingly surrendered to the Western allies and stood to the death against the Red Army, Stalin feared that the Allies might capture the capital of the Reich before us. Knowing about these concerns of Stalin, the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in Europe, General D. Eisenhower, forbade the troops to move to Berlin or take Prague. Nevertheless, Stalin demanded that Zhukov and Konev clear Berlin by May 1. On April 22, Stalin gave them orders for a decisive assault on the capital. Konev had to stop parts of his front on the line that ran through railway station just a few hundred meters from the Reichstag.

Since April 25, there have been fierce street battles in Berlin. On May 1, the red flag was raised over the Reichstag building. On May 2, the city garrison capitulated.

The struggle for Berlin was life and death. From April 21 to May 2, 1.8 million artillery shots (more than 36 thousand tons of metal) were fired at Berlin. The Germans defended their capital with great tenacity. According to the memoirs of Marshal Konev, “German soldiers still surrendered only when they had no choice.”

As a result of the fighting in Berlin, out of 250 thousand buildings, about 30 thousand were completely destroyed, more than 20 thousand were in a dilapidated state, more than 150 thousand buildings had moderate damage. City transport did not work. More than a third of metro stations were flooded. 225 bridges were blown up by the Nazis. The whole system utilities stopped functioning - power plants, water pumping stations, gas plants, sewage systems.

On May 2, the remnants of the Berlin garrison, numbering more than 134 thousand, surrendered, the rest fled.

During the Berlin operation, Soviet troops defeated 70 infantry, 23 tank and motorized divisions of the Wehrmacht, captured about 480 thousand people, captured up to 11 thousand guns and mortars, over 1.5 thousand tanks and assault guns, and 4,500 aircraft. (“The Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. Encyclopedia.” P. 96).

Soviet troops suffered heavy losses in this final operation - about 350 thousand people, including over 78 thousand - irrevocably. 33 thousand Soviet soldiers died on the Seelow Heights alone. The Polish army lost about 9 thousand soldiers and officers.

Soviet troops lost 2,156 tanks and self-propelled artillery units, 1,220 guns and mortars, and 527 aircraft. (“The classification of secrecy has been removed. Losses of the Armed Forces of the USSR in wars, hostilities and military conflicts.” M., 1993. P. 220.)

According to Colonel General A.V. Gorbatov, “from a military point of view, there was no need to storm Berlin... It was enough to encircle the city, and it would have surrendered in a week or two. Germany would inevitably capitulate. And during the assault, at the very end of the victory, in street battles, we killed at least a hundred thousand soldiers...” “This is what the British and Americans did. They blocked German fortresses and waited for months for their surrender, sparing their soldiers. Stalin acted differently." (“History of Russia in the 20th century. 1939–2007.” M., 2009. P. 159.)

The Berlin operation is one of largest operations Second World War. The victory of the Soviet troops in it became a decisive factor in completing the military defeat of Germany. With the fall of Berlin and other vital areas, Germany lost the ability to organize resistance and soon capitulated.

On May 5-11, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts advanced towards the capital of Czechoslovakia - Prague. The Germans were able to hold the defense in this city for 4 days. On May 11, Soviet troops liberated Prague.

On May 7, Alfred Jodl signed an unconditional surrender to the Western Allies in Reims. Stalin agreed with the allies to consider the signing of this act as a preliminary protocol of surrender.

The next day, May 8, 1945 (more precisely, at 0 hours 43 minutes on May 9, 1945), the signing of the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany was completed. The act was signed by Field Marshal Keitel, Admiral von Friedeburg and Colonel General Stumpf, who were authorized to do so by Grand Admiral Dönitz.

The first paragraph of the Act read:

"1. We, the undersigned, acting on behalf of the German High Command, agree to the unconditional surrender of all our armed forces on land, sea and air, as well as all forces currently under German command, to the Supreme Command of the Red Army and at the same time to the Supreme Command of the Allied expeditionary forces."

The meeting to sign the Act of German Surrender was led by the representative of the Supreme High Command of the Soviet Forces, Marshal G.K. Zhukov. British Air Marshal Arthur W. Tedder, U.S. Commander of Strategic Air Forces General Carl Spaats, and Commander-in-Chief of the French Army General Jean Delattre de Tassigny were present as representatives of the Allied Supreme Command.

The price of victory was the undeserved losses of the Red Army from 1941 to 1945. (Information from the declassified storage facilities of the General Staff, published in Izvestia on June 25, 1998.)

The irretrievable losses of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War amounted to 11,944,100 people. Of these, 6,885 thousand people were killed or died from wounds, various diseases, died in disasters, or committed suicide. Missing, captured or surrendered - 4559 thousand. 500 thousand people died on the way to the front under bombing or for other reasons.

The total demographic losses of the Red Army, including losses from which 1,936 thousand people returned from captivity after the war, military personnel re-conscripted into the army who found themselves in occupied and then liberated territory (they were considered missing in action), 939 thousand people are subtracted, amount to 9,168 400 people. Of these, the payroll (i.e., those who fought with weapons in their hands) is 8,668,400 people.

Overall, the country lost 26,600,000 citizens. The civilian population suffered the most during the war - 17,400,000 killed and died.

By the beginning of the war, 4,826,900 people served in the Red Army and Navy (the state numbered 5,543 thousand military personnel, taking into account 74,900 people serving in other formations).

34,476,700 people were mobilized to the fronts (including those who had already served at the time of the German attack).

After the end of the war, 12,839,800 people remained on the army lists, of which 11,390 thousand people were in service. There were 1,046 thousand people undergoing treatment and 400 thousand people in the formation of other departments.

21,636,900 people left the army during the war, of which 3,798 thousand were dismissed due to injury and illness, of whom 2,576 thousand remained permanently disabled.

3,614 thousand people were transferred to work in industry and local self-defense. It was sent to staff the troops and bodies of the NKVD, the Polish Army, the Czechoslovak and Romanian armies - 1,500 thousand people.

More than 994 thousand people were convicted (of which 422 thousand were sent to penal units, 436 thousand were sent to places of detention). 212 thousand deserters and stragglers from the echelons on their way to the front have not been found.

These numbers are amazing. At the end of the war, Stalin said that the army had lost 7 million people. In the 60s, Khrushchev called “more than 20 million people.”

In March 1990, the Military Historical Journal published an interview with the then Chief of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, Army General M. Moiseev: gratuitous losses among military personnel amounted to 8,668,400 people.

In the first period of fighting (June - November 1941), our daily losses at the fronts were estimated at 24 thousand (17 thousand killed and 7 thousand wounded). At the end of the war (from January 1944 to May 1945 - 20 thousand people a day: 5.2 thousand killed and 14.8 thousand wounded).

During the war, our army lost 11,944,100 people.

In 1991, the work of the General Staff to clarify losses in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 was completed.

Direct losses.

The direct losses of the Soviet Union in the Second World War are understood as the losses of military personnel and civilians who died as a result of hostilities and their consequences, due to an increase in the mortality rate compared to peacetime, as well as those people from the population of the USSR on June 22, 1941, who left territory of the USSR during the war and did not return. The human losses of the Soviet Union do not include indirect demographic losses due to a decrease in the birth rate during the war and an increase in mortality in the post-war years.

A complete assessment of all human losses can be obtained using the demographic balance method, by comparing the size and structure of the population at the beginning and end of the war.

The assessment of human losses in the USSR was carried out for the period from June 22, 1941 to December 31, 1945 in order to take into account the deaths of the wounded in hospitals, the repatriation of prisoners of war and displaced civilians to the USSR, and the repatriation of citizens of other countries from the USSR. For the calculation, the borders of the USSR were taken as of June 21, 1941.

According to the 1939 census, the population on January 17, 1939 was determined to be 168.9 million people. About 20.1 million more people lived in the territories that became part of the USSR in the pre-war years. The natural increase over the 2.5 years to June 1941 amounted to about 7.91 million people.

Thus, in mid-1941 the population of the USSR was approximately 196.7 million people. The population of the USSR as of December 31, 1945 was estimated at 170.5 million people, of which 159.6 million were born before June 22, 1941. Total number those who died and found themselves outside the country during the war years amounted to 37.1 million people (196.7-159.6). If the mortality rate of the population of the USSR in 1941–1945 had remained the same as in pre-war 1940, the number of deaths during this period would have been 11.9 million people. Subtracting this value (37.1-11.9 million), the human losses of generations born before the start of the war amounted to 25.2 million people. To this figure it is necessary to add the losses of children born during the war, but who died due to an increased level of infant mortality compared to the “normal” level. Of those born in 1941–1945, approximately 4.6 million did not live to see the beginning of 1946, or 1.3 million more than would have died at the 1940 mortality rate. These 1.3 million should also be attributed to losses as a result of the war.

As a result, the direct human losses of the USSR population as a result of the war, estimated by the demographic balance method, amount to approximately 26.6 million people.

According to experts, the net increase in mortality as a result of deteriorating living conditions can be attributed to 9-10 million deaths during the war.

Direct losses of the population of the USSR during the war years amounted to 13.5% of its population by mid-1941.

Irreversible losses of the Red Army.

By the beginning of the war, there were 4,826,907 military personnel in the army and navy. In addition, 74,945 military personnel and military construction workers served in the formations of civilian departments. Over the 4 years of the war, minus those re-conscripted, another 29,574 thousand were mobilized. In total, together with personnel, 34,476,700 people were recruited into the army, navy and paramilitary forces. Of these, about one third were in service annually (10.5-11.5 million people). Half of this composition (5.0–6.5 million people) served in the active army.

In total, according to the General Staff commission, during the war, 6,885,100 military personnel were killed, died from wounds and illnesses, or died as a result of accidents, which amounted to 19.9% ​​of those conscripted. 4,559 thousand people were missing or captured, or 13% of those conscripted.

Total total losses The personnel of the Soviet armed forces, including border and internal troops, during the Second World War amounted to 11,444,100 people.

In 1942–1945, in the liberated territory, 939,700 military personnel from among those previously in captivity, surrounded and in occupied territory were re-conscripted into the army.

About 1,836,600 former military personnel returned from captivity at the end of the war. These military personnel (2,775 thousand people) were rightly excluded by the commission from the irretrievable losses of the armed forces.

Thus, the irretrievable losses of personnel of the Armed Forces of the USSR, taking into account the Far Eastern campaign (killed, died from wounds, went missing and did not return from captivity, as well as non-combat losses) amounted to 8,668,400 people.

Sanitary losses.

The commission established them in the amount of 18,334 thousand people, including: 15,205,600 people were wounded and shell-shocked, 3,047,700 people were sick, 90,900 people were frostbitten.

In total, 3,798,200 people were demobilized from the army and navy during the war due to injury or illness.

Every day on the Soviet-German front, an average of 20,869 people were out of action, of which about 8 thousand were irretrievably lost. More than half - 56.7% of all irretrievable losses - occurred in 1941–1942. The largest average daily losses were noted in the summer-autumn campaigns of 1941 - 24 thousand people and 1942 - 27.3 thousand per day.

The losses of Soviet troops in the Far Eastern campaign were relatively small - over 25 days of fighting, losses amounted to 36,400 people, including 12,000 killed, died or went missing.

About 6 thousand partisan detachments - more than 1 million people - operated behind enemy lines.

Head of the Department of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for perpetuating the memory of fallen defenders of the Fatherland, Major General A.V. Kirilin, in an interview with the weekly “Arguments and Facts” (2011, No. 24), provided the following data on the losses of the Red Army and Germany during the war of 1941–1945:

From June 22 to December 31, 1941, the losses of the Red Army exceeded 3 million people. Of these, 465 thousand were killed, 101 thousand died in hospitals, 235 thousand people died from illnesses and accidents (military statistics included those shot by their own in this category).

The disaster of 1941 was determined by the number of missing and captured people - 2,355,482 people. Most of these people died in German camps on the territory of the USSR.

The figure for Soviet military losses in the Great Patriotic War is 8,664,400 people. This is a figure that is confirmed by documents. But not all the people listed as casualties died. For example, in 1946, 480 thousand “displaced persons” went to the West - those who did not want to return to their homeland. In total, 3.5 million people are missing.

Approximately 500 thousand people drafted into the army (mostly in 1941) did not make it to the front. They are now classified as general civilian losses (26 million) (disappeared during the bombing of trains, remained in the occupied territory, served in the police) - 939.5 thousand people re-conscripted into the Red Army during the liberation of Soviet lands.

Germany, excluding its allies, lost 5.3 million killed, died from wounds, went missing, and 3.57 million prisoners on the Soviet-German front. For every German killed, there were 1.3 Soviet soldiers. 442 thousand captured Germans died in Soviet captivity.

Of the 4,559 thousand Soviet soldiers captured by Germans, 2.7 million people died.

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